


Finding Love

by BecksSmoak



Category: Jurassic Park - All Media Types, Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Dating, F/M, Idiots in Love, Waitress Claire, Zookeeper Owen, need i say more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29314260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BecksSmoak/pseuds/BecksSmoak
Summary: Owen Grady is looking for the right woman. Claire Dearing is looking for some distraction from her tedious life as a waitress. When they team up to find The One for Owen, sparks fly. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling that you'll find that love actually is all around.
Relationships: Claire Dearing/Owen Grady
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> None of the characters belong to me. I got the idea off a Netflix movie. Hope you enjoy it

Life wasn’t fair. Claire Dearing had accepted that a long time ago. As the youngest daughter of two workaholic lawyers, the little sister to yet another workaholic lawyer, everybody had expected her to go places. In school she’d always been studious. She’d gotten all the grades she’d need to get into a fancy university like Harvard, her track record was exemplary. And yet here she was, working in a fancy Italian restaurant to pay her way through a small college with a mayor in communications. It was safe to say that her parents were very disappointed with her life choices.  
But they were her choices, and all Claire wanted to do was be her own person. She didn’t want to follow in her parents’ footsteps, and she didn’t want to be a lawyer. The life they had envisioned for her simply didn’t appeal to her. It was like they didn’t even know their own daughter. Instead of setting her free and supporting her choices, they’d given her an ultimatum. Study law, or be cut off until she’d found a suitable career. Turns out, waitress wasn’t suitable in her parents’ eyes. Who’d have thought? 

After finishing High School she’d moved far away from home, as far as she possibly could. To San Diego. But once she arrived in the city, she soon realized that things didn’t come as easy to her anymore. At home she’d been the town’s sweetheart. Beloved daughter of two of its most influential citizens. People wanted to be her friends. People respected her. But in San Diego, nobody knew who she was, and nobody seemed to care.   
It had taken weeks for her to find a job that didn’t require her to wear…minimal clothing. The only job offers she’d gotten were in bars and strip clubs. Apparently her red hair held a certain appeal. But Claire didn’t want that. She wanted a proper job. Doing something she loved. So she applied to radio stations, newspapers, and TV stations. A job in media. That sounded like a cool way to earn some money. Unfortunately she had zero experience, and the companies weren’t eager to hire an unexperienced college student. So she’d widened her scope a bit. Boutiques and schools. Still no luck. Finally she’d found someone who’d taken pity on her. Simon, the owner of a cozy Italian restaurant downtown. He’d given her a job as a waitress.

So here she was, spending five nights a week in this miserable place after spending the days working her ass of at college, trying to figure out where her life had gone wrong, and trying not to think about having to do the same shit all over again in the morning. It was exhausting and depressing. But at least the tips she got from her job allowed her to live in a small one bedroom apartment on the edge of town, and not need some hippie roommate to cover rent. 

In order to cheer herself up at work, and make the whole ordeal a bit more interesting, she’d started watching the customers. New couples on a first date, regulars that came by after work, and every now and then the occasional lonely old man that had probably used to come here with his dead wife. Claire started inventing backstories for all of them.   
A couple of horny teenagers that came by once a week and couldn’t keep their hands off each other, too young to legally drink alcohol but not too young to ask for a light beer every now and then. They were clearly the kids of two hostile families, and coming here was their way of escaping their horrible lives and have an adventure together. (Full disclosure, Romeo and Juliet was the only DVD she’d brought with her, so maybe that slightly influenced…everything)

A tough looking business woman (angry annie) that spent her entire meal at the phone, snapping at waiters and other guests, but always left a hefty tip. Maybe it was an ego thing. Maybe she was overcompensating for a shitty character. Whatever it was, Claire felt a certain kinship to the woman. To her, she’d always seemed out of place. Unsettled. Like life had swept her into this place, but hadn’t made any sense since. So basically Claire saw herself in that woman. 

Her favorite customer to fantasize about was handsome man, about her age, who showed up a couple of times a week, and always brought a different date. Since she’d first seen him, about five months ago, he’d brought at least 40 different women to this restaurant. And that was a conservative guess. They were never one particular type. Some were tall, some were short. Some were blonde, some brunettes. Some were white, others dark-skinned. Whatever it was he was doing with them, the man always acted like a true gentleman. He even pulled out their chairs. But none of them seemed to catch his interest.   
Claire might’ve thought him to be an arrogant, superficial asshole, if it wasn’t for the disappointed and dejected look she saw on his face after every date. This man was clearly looking for love, and not having any luck with it. Judging by his good looks and great manners, finding new dates wasn’t all that hard for him. He was tall, muscular, with short sandy hair and a sexy stubble. He had a slightly childish but endearing vibe going on, that made everybody instantly feel comfortable around him. Even Angry Annie tolerated his antics (Claire wasn’t quite sure if they’d ever gone out, but no. Just no. That wouldn’t work at all. But she figured that if they had, they wouldn’t be as comfortable around each other as they were now. If you could call the occasional greeting and small talk being comfortable around one another).

Whatever it was, the hot guy fascinated Claire. She made a point of serving him and his dates personally, always careful to appear nonchalant and completely focused on her work, not on their private conversations. But after a few weeks of witnessing one disastrous date after another, she simply couldn’t help herself anymore. Every time she heard a woman mention how J-Lo was her spirit animal, or how vegans really couldn’t eat avocado because bees were raped for that avocado, she visibly cringed. Did none of these women understand what Hot Guy was looking for? A real, down to earth woman. Obviously. But so many of the women he brought to the restaurant were living with their heads in a cloud, virtual or metaphorical, and managed to NOT talk about anything real for the entire meal.   
Maybe that was his problem. He never seemed to pick real women. Sure, some of them were super nice. But after a while, every single one turned out to be a bit bonkers. Claire’s favorite was a blonde businesswoman, who seemed like the perfect candidate, until she started talking about how she’d been abducted by aliens. Claire could literally see Owen shut down after that, and ten minutes later he’d ended that particular date. 

For a while Claire got away with her sometimes very poorly hidden reactions to the women. But that changed on one fateful Friday night. The flavor of the day was a cute Asian girl with big eyes and some very enthusiastic gestures. She spoke with her whole body, hands and legs flying through the air while she was trying to make a point. That alone was enough to make Claire giggle behind a bottle of red wine Hot Guy had ordered. But then Asian Girl had to start comparing her difficult time in school to the struggles of a lonely fish living in a restaurant aquarium (and seriously, WHAT???), and Claire knew that another one was about to bite the dust. The ninth one for this month.  
With a dejected groan she banged her head against the kitchen door, when suddenly she heard a muffled laugh coming from behind her. She turned around, only to find Hot Guy looking at her with a bemused expression on his face and an eyebrow raised in clear challenge. Shit. He’d seen right through her. Her cover was blown. Call for backup. Anything to get out of this embarrassing situation. Before she could disappear into the kitchen and pray for the ground to open up and swallow her, Hot Guy raised his hand and called her over.

“How may I help you?” she asked, silently hoping that he wasn’t going to bring the embarrassing episode up.

“I’d like to get a recommendation. Today’s….special. Do you think I’d like it?” Hot Guy asked with a smirk and a wink to his (clearly clueless) date.

Ah. So he was going to do this the hard way. With difficult metaphors and the chance of being found out by Asian Girl. Well, if that’s how he wanted to play, Claire decided to go with it. She smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, trying to hide the rising blush that spread all over her face and neck.

“To be completely honest, Sir, I don’t think today’s special is a good fit for you. It’s a bit…exotic, if you know what I mean. And I think you’d rather have something more reliable. Like a pizza. Everybody loves pizza. You can’t go wrong with a pizza. Right?”

So much for playing it cool. Hot Guy must’ve picked up on her blank nerves and chuckled. 

“You cannot. Well, thank you for your recommendation. I see you know what you’re talking about. Now could I have the check please?”

While Claire was walking away she could hear Asian Girl ask him “why did you ask about today’s special? We already ate!”…yeah, today’s special really wasn’t for him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took me this long to update! Work is really hectic and I'm really bad at finishing fics :D Still, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!**

After Hot Guy and his date left, Claire decided to stop putting her nose in other peoples’ business. Today had been much too close for comfort. He’d caught her judging his date, his taste in women, and called her out for it. Such behavior was really unprofessional, and if he complained to her manager, her job might be in serious jeopardy. So she decided, right then and there, to stop listening in on his dates. And to stop meddling. It was his life, his choice. Who was she, a chronically single woman in her mid-twenties, to judge him?

Unfortunately, her plan didn’t even last an hour.

Not long after Hot Guy had left the restaurant, and Claire had made the decision to stay away from him, he reappeared at the bar. He must’ve been waiting for her, because when she came back from serving a table, he stood up and approached her.

“Hi. I’m Owen Grady.” he said and offered her his hand.

For a moment Claire didn’t quite know how to react. Was he here to tell her how incredibly rude and unprofessional she’d behaved? Or to find out her name so he could complain about her properly? Whatever it was, getting an apology out there before he could say whatever he had to say wouldn’t hurt.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to listen in on your private conversations, Mr. Grady. That was really unprofessionally of me. And rude. I just…I’m really sorry. Please don’t report me to my manager. I need this job. I promise to never listen in on your dates ever again. Or serve you. We have very good waiters. They’ll serve you. Did I mention how sorry I am?”

Before she could continue her ramble (when did rambling become a thing for her? Where was her usual eloquence and calm demeanor?), Owen put his hand on her arm and smiled at her. It was a wonderful smile. It showed A LOT of teeth, and a few crinkles next to his eyes. Her whole body seemed to relax into his touch, his smile.

“Don’t worry about that, Miss. I wasn’t going to report you. I wanted to ask when your shift ends. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Oh. Okay! My shift ends in half an hour. But…you don’t have to wait. We can…”

“That’s okay. I’ll wait in the bar around the corner. Come find me when you’re off?”

Claire found herself nodding before he’d even finished the sentence.

“My name is Claire, by the way. Claire Dearing.”

Finally they shook hands.

“Nice to meet you, Claire Dearing. Well, don’t let me keep you any longer. I’ll see you soon.

\---

The rest of her shift felt like an eternity. A million thoughts ran through Claire’s head. What could Mr. Grady possibly want from her? Did he…was he going to ask her out on a date and make her the next one in a row of catastrophic failures? Did he want to humiliate her some more? Whatever it was, she’d told him she’d be there. She owed him that much for being a creep and spying on his dates. Still, the nervous energy didn’t leave her for the rest of the shift and made her almost drop a plate on a customer. Her boss was probably relieved when she clocked out on time for once.

True to his word, Mr. Grady was sitting at a small table in a quiet corner of O’Neil’s, her favorite after-work hangout. He had two pints of beer in front of him and was on his phone when Claire sat down.

“You came!” he said and looked up with another one of his dazzling smiles.

“I told you I would. I figured I owed you as much. You know…after the way I behaved...”

“Okay you really need to stop apologizing for that. I don’t mind. In fact, that was the most entertaining part of my entire date.”

Wait what?

“Then why did you ask me to come here?”

Mr. Grady turned visibly nervous and started playing with the phone he was still holding in his hands. He bit his lip, looked like he was going to say something a few times, until he finally took a deep breath and put the phone away.

“Look, Claire, if I can call you that…You obviously know that I’ve been on quite a few dates in the last months. Judging by your facial expressions lately, you also know that it just…wasn’t right for me. I’ve met so many different women, really nice women, but there’s just no spark. You, an outsider, could see that. They couldn’t. I’m just trying…I just want to find love, you know? But obviously I’m a poor judge of character. So I need your help. I’d like you to…would you help me find the perfect woman for me?”

Wow. Okay. Claire had to let that sink in before she could even react to it. She took a sip of the beer he’d ordered for her and tried to sort through her thoughts and feelings. Good lord, what was this man thinking?? Asking a complete stranger to help him find the right woman. Mad. Right? But how could she refuse? Not just because it would be incredibly rude, seeing how he’d been so nice about the whole spying on his dates situation. Not that it was spying. Technically. Anyways, he’d been very polite about it all. But no, the real reason why Claire even considered helping him was something else.

She was intrigued. For the first time since she’d moved here and started her boring life, something exciting was happening. It was a whole new experience. Somewhere along the last months she’d fallen into the same old dull routine that was now her life. Study, work, sleep. That was all there was to it. No social life to speak of, no friends, no hobbies. Not even a Netflix account. The most exciting thing that had happened to her since moving to San Diego was when she’d found twenty dollars tucked into the pocket of her freshly washed jeans. Boy did that get her heartrate up.

And here was Owen Grady, a mysterious and handsome stranger, offering her a chance to have a real adventure. Maybe it wouldn’t take long. Maybe they’d find the right girl, or realize it wasn’t working out for them. But for now, she had something new to look forward to. A new project. And Claire Dearing sure loved her projects.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked him cautiously. Best to test the waters before she agreed to anything…unsavory.

Mr. Grady grimaced and scratched his neck, clearly still uncomfortable with the idea of asking a stranger to basically dictate his love life. Good. If she had to be uncomfortable, so should he.

“I was thinking…maybe we could go through my dating apps together. Find some women that are less likely to be…that. And I’ll bring them to the restaurants on our dates, so you can keep an eye on things. Signal me if you get a weird vibe and know that it’s not going to work out. I really just need some guidance here. I’m very bad at the whole love thing. Please, Claire. Please help me. You can have anything you want. Anything. I’ll pay you. I’ll get you Super Bowl tickets. Anything you want. You name it, it’s yours. Just…I’m tired of trying to figure this out on my own. Cause it’s clearly not working.”

It really wasn’t. In fact, judging by the number of dates and the kind of women he went out with, things were getting worse for him. Maybe he was in a bit of a spiral, stuck in a panic about not finding the right woman that led him to make the worst possible choices imaginable. But Claire wasn’t going to give in that easily.

“Mr. Grady, have you considered that the common denominator in all your failed dates is…well…you? I mean no offence, but maybe you’re the problem. What would be the point in trying to find the right woman if you’re not the right man?”

That stunned him into silence. Apparently she’d hit an open wound with that, because he looked seriously hurt before turning his face completely blank, something she’d never seen him do before. It was a bit intimidating, to be honest. To watch him put a mask on with so little effort. And it made Claire think that maybe the nice guy from earlier had been as mask as well. But then she remembered the hurt look in his eyes, and decided to trust him.

“I think we should go out. That way I can see if you’re the problem, or if it’s just your bad choices. Bad choices in dates, I mean. Not bad choices in general. But we should go out. As a…test run, of sorts. You can’t fix something until you know what’s broken, right?”

The smile was back on his face now. It was a full blown smile that showed a whole lot of teeth and made his eyes shine. Wow, no wonder so many women went out with him. The man was a walking, talking chick magnet. A smile like that could make a woman agree to anything. Claire would have to be careful around him, careful not to let womanly urges cloud her judgement. She was here to help him, nothing more.

“Yes! We should totally do that! Thank you! I know this is the weirdest thing anybody’s ever asked someone to do, I really do know that. But I’m so glad you’ll help me. Thank you, Claire. Really. From the bottom of my heart!”

“Well, I do owe you one. And it’s my pleasure. Helping you figure…all of this out is certainly a lot more interesting than everything else that’s going on in my life right now.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Mr. Grady replied with a small smile. “You appear to be a pretty interesting person yourself.”

Claire could feel the blush creep all the way up her neck and into her cheeks. Damn her red hair and pale complexion. It made hiding a blush almost impossible. Quickly she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down her number.

“Here’s my number. Call me, and we’ll set up a date. And by date I mean day, not a date date. I…I have to go now. You know….I gotta feed the cat, do some homework…” she handed him the piece of paper and quickly turned around to leave the bar, loudly listing things that needed her attention. “…paint the fence, get some Christmas presents, buy a car…”

By the time she’d reached the door, Mr. Grady was laughing loudly, and Claire could swear she saw some tears in his eyes. Great. That’s what she got for watching Christmas movies all year round. Well, at least he seemed to have gotten the joke. He held up the paper with her phone number and made a phone gesture with his other hand. Claire nodded and waved him one last goodbye, then she went out into the night, wondering what on earth she’d just agreed to.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? Leave a comment!


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